Ward Gibson knew what was expected of him by the village folk, and especially by the Mason family, whose daughter Daisy he had known all his life. But then, in a single week, his whole world had been turned upside down by a dancer, Stephanie McQueen, who seemed to float across the stage of the Empire Music Hall where she was appearing as The Maltese Angel. After a whirlwind courtship she agreed to marry him, but there followed a series of reprisals from those who felt he betrayed Daisy. Soon, events would follow that would twist and turn the course of many lives through Ward's own and succeeding generations.